1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally togas burners and electric heating elements for use in the rapid cooking of food products in broilers, conveyor ovens, non-conveyor ovens having a fixed oven cavity, and toaster systems, and more particularly to a novel broiler having burners and/or heating elements that cooperate with a pressurized air system that utilizes waste heat to heat air in a low pressure air system which is then introduced into the cooking chamber and directed toward food product in a manner that guides heat and/or flames to areas around and onto food product in a multi-source cooking system. The burner/heating element and pressurized air system are adapted for use in commercial broilers, conveyor ovens, non-conveyor ovens, and toasters for cooking a variety of food products through the combination of radiant heat and forced convection heat.
2. Discussion of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR §§1.97, 1.98:
To prepare certain foods, such as hamburger patties, sausages, hot dogs, pizza, toasted sandwiches, chicken and fish fillets, and the like, as well as their respective buns, high output commercial food purveyors (principally restaurants) utilize conveyor broiler, oven, and toaster systems that rapidly and continually cook the food products. (As used herein, the term “cooking system” specifically covers broilers, ovens, and toasters, and is intended to include one or more of such systems independently and combined.) These systems provide rapid and high throughput with consistent cooked product results. The systems typically comprise a housing (or cooking chamber) having a horizontal conveyor for moving food product from an input end to an output end. During the cooking process the food passes between one or more gas burner and/or electric heating elements. As may be readily appreciated, the profitability of utilizing such a system hinges on a number of factors, including the rapidity and efficiency with which the food product can be cooked, the minimization of energy and/or fuel utilized in cooking, the ease with which the system can be serviced and cleaned, the quality (and therefore desirability) of the cooked food products, and so forth.
Present day conveyor oven and broiler designs are energy intensive equipment, not only in their direct consumption of electricity and/or natural gas, but also due to the load they place on HVAC systems due to waste. Ovens and broilers call for high exhaust flow rates and create high temperatures in the often small space provided in the kitchen area, creating an uncomfortable environment for kitchen staff. Nonetheless, on-site ovens even in close proximity to diners are desirable inasmuch as they send mouth-watering aromas into the restaurant and produce a cooked product with highly desirable characteristics.
Several rapid cooking systems have been developed for use in the fast food industry, including those described in the following U.S. patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,286, to Baker, discloses a broiler system having at least two side-by-side broiling conveyors, and broiler units mounted adjacent to the conveyors extending across the combined widths of the two conveyors. To permit different heating conditions on the two conveyors while still permitting the broiler units to be interchangeable and made of interchangeable parts, a broiler unit is provided with a shield which blocks off the heated face of the broiler unit where the broiler unit faces one of the conveyors. The shield preferably carries a portion which extends towards the adjacent edges of two conveyors to prevent lateral heat radiation between the conveyors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,868, to Baker et al, shows a broiler system having a food passageway restricted by baffles, including an entrance shield of heat-reflecting material formed as a fitting over the entrance burner housing and including a baffle sheet extending from the entrance burner housing through most of the gap toward the entrance opening, and an exit shield of similar heat-reflecting material formed as a fitting over the exit burner housing and having a baffle sheet extending from the exit burner housing through most of the gap toward the exit opening. In addition, there is an intermediate shield including a horizontal sheet of similar material resting on adjacent burner housings and having a vertical sheet depending from said horizontal sheet. The entrance shield, the exit shield and the intermediate shield define the upper limits of the passageway through the burner and tend to reflect heat away from the entrance and exit openings and to limit air circulation within and through the passageway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,509, to Baker et al., teaches a housing having a passageway through which a continuous food conveyor operates, taking food products from an inlet end to an outlet end. Within the passageway the food products are exposed to infrared radiation from heaters, hot air blown from a fan through a supply duct and through groups of nozzles onto the patties, and steam or hot water vapor provided through the air supply. By using three different types of heat supply—direct infrared radiation, warm air, and water vapor—the system provides a quickly cooked food product having a relatively high moisture content.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,718 to Lang-Ree et al., discloses a hamburger patty and bun cooker having a frame supporting lower and upper heated platens. A product conveyor, typical of such systems, moves food product from the inlet to the outlet. At least one of the platens is provided with a low-friction layer between it and an advancing patty. The layer is constituted by jets of hot air discharged over the platen surface or by a Teflon-coated thin, metal foil sheet or by a Teflon-carrying thin, fiber glass sheet, the sheets being readily changeable. Bun portions for the individual patties are advanced on the same frame in paths parallel to the hamburger patties by comparable endless conveyors and are heated by individual platens on the frame as the bun portions advance.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventors are aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicants' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.